Moving On and Moving Out
by Stargazer at Moonlight
Summary: Soundwave has finally made the decision to move on with is life and they are moving to a new city to do so.


"So tell me 'gain why ya gotta move outta Polyhex, Soundwave," Firestar prompted as she carefully packed a crystal sculpture in a miniature box designed for it before storing it in the larger box that Soundwave would put in his subspace when it was full.

"Blaster," he answered shortly, hoping against hope that the topic would be dropped, but expecting that it would not be. "Soundwave: sees Blaster too often. Laserbeak, Ravage: harassed by Steeljaw. Symbionts: not safe."

"And with how important they are ta ya, ya gotta make sure they stay happeh and healtheh. Yeah?"

"Firestar: correct."

He sighed deeply as he packed Laserbeak's collection of polished organic rocks carefully under her watchful optic, being sure to not allow them to click together too often. Ravage was watching the events with curiosity, but little else. All of her belongings had been packed more than a joor before because of her expressed interest in watching them do everything, plus the small fact that all of the furniture had needed to be moved so that they were able to get everything as she had a habit of leaving anything that became stuck there behind and asking for a new toy. Perhaps he could try to break her of that habit, but he thought that unlikely.

"But all tha way ta Stanix? And wouldn't Kalis be more fittin' with yer job?" she huffed, resisting the urge to cross her arms and pout to try and make him reconsider. Not only had it not worked before, but he also had laughed at her and attempted to imitate the pose just to send her into gales of laughter. "And yer gonna make me and Inferno travel that _whole long way_ just ta visit ya? It's gonna cut inta our game time!"

"Comms: always available. Games: still possible."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a lot more fun when we're actualleh togethah ta play. And ya know that Inferno's gonna agree with meh on that one. He always has more fun when we do things live."

"Soundwave: changing careers. Communications centers: require better management. Advanced processors: required. Soundwave: possesses."

"Plus it sounds like it'll be challengin' enough for ya and yer 'advanced processors'. That's always gonna rank high up there, huh?"

"Symbionts: inquisitive. Stanix: opportunities to channel curiosity," he stated, trying to get the attention off of him and onto a different subject. Ravage turned a rather offended glare on him as Laserbeak clicked her beak in a huff of disgruntlement.

"Gonna try and keep the little hellions outta trouble, huh? Dunno how well that's gonna work out for ya, but ya gotta keep me updated on that try since I don't think it's possible ta keep 'em too busy for mischief." She laughed lightly as she finished packing the last few crystal sculptures that had been set out in the half vorn that Soundwave had been living with her and her sparkmate. If there was one thing other than the mech and his two femmes that she was going to miss, it was going to be seeing those pieces when she was alone in the apartment as they had brought a lot of color and light to the space.

As he finished packing the box full of all the breakables he had collected over the vorns, he took a small, square box from his subspace and presented it to Firestar. It was something that he knew she would enjoy and, hopefully, the gift would also prompt her to start her own collection of them as he had noticed the femme's enjoyment of his artwork and did not wish to leave her without any for her enjoyment. Inferno had been rather oblivious to her like of them, so he was not expecting the security mech to indulge her this.

"Ooo! A present!" she exclaimed, carefully snatching it from his hands and setting it on the table while he took that time to check over the placement of the storage containers before closing the subspace storage bin in satisfaction and sliding it into the subspace pocket located on his right side. She gleefully inputted the code that had been attached to the lock by a thin wire and waited impatiently for it to open fully. Once it had, she stared for a long moment, standing stock still, and then launched herself at Soundwave to pull him into a grateful hug.

"It's _perfect_, Soundwave! Absolutely _gorgeous_!"

Reluctantly, she released him and turned back to the box, which was displaying a crystal structure that seemed to defy any preconceived notions about art and the application to crystal. There was a small red and gold sphere in the center with bursts of color popping off of it at random with just the thinnest of connections, the ends of the bursts flaring out into small flower-like structures. Most of the coloring was red and gold, much like her paint job, but there was some black, blue, silver, purple, and pink mixed in with them and adding another layer of dimension and creating an effect similar to what she thought a 'starset' must have looked like when Cybertron still circled a one. How he had found one that looked so delicate but revealed itself to be as strong as any bulkier sculpture, she had absolutely no idea. For all that Firestar knew, he had the best crystal sculptor's comm number and made full use of it.

Ravage radiated smugness, her tail twitching in contained mirth at her host's expense after the unexpected physical affection from the femme. The condor also subtly preened. They had a right to their actions as they had been the ones to discover the crystal worker's tiny shop in the middle of Praxus' Bazaar and Market District. That small shop had seen no few of Soundwave's credits disappearing into it as the mech who ran the shop always had the best selection available and, in the case of Firestar's gift, took a request. Of course, he really never turned Soundwave down on anything that he had ever requested after he became a regular customer as he was the one who kept the shop solvent in some of the leaner vorns.

After the harrowing trip down through the Polyhex Off-World Bazaar that resulted in Soundwave being propositioned by several femmes that originated from one of the colonies that had been establish, he and his two symbionts finally reached the transportation station. Laserbeak had landed on his shoulder and was rubbing her small helm across his audial in an attempt at comfort even while her tiny chassis was shaking with repressed laughter. The carrier was so inexperienced with femmes that it was usually rather hilarious, especially as both of his symbionts and his closest friend were all femmes. It was rather understandable for him to be uncomfortable with the bawdy questions, but considering how often he got them, one would think that he would have figured out a way to get out of the area quickly. What made it worse for him was that femmes always seemed to figure out rather quickly that he was one of the few mechs that enjoyed the same same set of equipment they did to almost the same degree. Many then chose to coo over and try to baby the carrier-host, which left him that much more embarrassed. These particular femmes, however, had tried to talk to him about what his favorite positions and toys were. They were rather disappointed when he would not oblige them.

As he had purchased the tickets he had needed the orn before, they had not needed to wait in line and were able to seat themselves comfortably within the assigned section of the vac-lev. A femme moved gracefully past him, directing two small frames into the seats in front of them and admonishing them to be sure that they were locked securely to the seats when they were told to. It was quite apparent that they felt she was being far too condescending as one of them, the blue one, glared and the other, who was red and black, told her to 'move along' and 'we already know all this slag'. Apparently it was _not_ their first time on a vac-lev despite what the femme thought.

Ravage's helm raised from where she had been curled into a loose ball of plating to look at the rather loud disturbance, shifting Laserbeak where she was perched on her shoulder and causing the condor to whistle at her in agitation. The noise brought the attention of the two small frames, who turned in their seats and stood so that they could grab onto the head rests to brace themselves.

"Whoa! You're a _femme_!" the red and black one exclaimed, his confusion evident as he took in the panther, Ravage having caught his attention first despite Laserbeak having made the noise. "I've never seen a femme cat!"

"Yeah, ya have, glitch. Remember, that one red and white one, oh, several decades ago? Tha one that almost bit ya on yer aft?" the other corrected with a playful whack aimed at what had to be his brother's helm.

"She don't count, Rumble," he protested with a negligent wave. "She was re-framed inta that. This one here was originally framed this way."

"Eh. If yer gonna look at it that way, yer right, I guess," the blue one conceded after a long moment, debating over whether or not he still wanted to attack his brother for the Pit of it.

"And! Yer both symbionts! Ya don't see too many hosts wantin' animal frames these vorns."

Laserbeak's wings flared in a threat display as Ravage turned a dark growl on them, giving voice to their disgust with the assessment as they were obviously bonded with a host. Soundwave sent a short pulse over his bond with the two femmes, calming them easily as they were not overly offended - yet. With the two mechs acting as they were, he did not think that it would take much more from them to annoy his two ladies past what they were willing to put up with.

"Animal frames: beautiful," Soundwave interjected before they could say anything further and drawing attention to himself as he did not think they had yet noticed him even though he had a much larger frame than his two femmes. "Query: find animal frames otherwise?"

"Ah, naw. We rather like 'em, ya just don't see hosts bondin' 'em as much anymore," Rumble answered, his helm shaking in the negative as he did so before turning his attention more fully to the carrier-host that was addressing them.

_That is one__slaggin'_gorgeous_carrier,__Frenz.__Look't__that_chest_and the_armor_. Slag, what I wouldn't give ta have a carrier as nicely formed as that one,_ he gushed over their bond as his optics traveled over mostly navy plating rather lazily as he tried to disguise his interest. If he expressed it too overtly, it could be taken as a threat by the other symbionts already bonded to the mech and provoke a fight. That was something he really did not want to initiate in the confines of the vac-lev - or really at all as he would not stand a chance against a feline and a bird. Those two frame-types of symbionts were not known for going easy on an interloper and were definitely known for territoriality.

_Keep ya 'ports closed, Rumble,_ the red and black mini-mech muttered in reply. _I know how ya feel 'bout us not__havin' a carrier, but we gotta get ta know__tha__mech__and his__symbionts, see if we fit, ya know? Plus, he talks weird and the__symbionts__he has are real young. Wanna know why that is. We don't really want a_young_carrier that don't know what in frag he's__doin'._

"Query: why?" he asked in apparent confusion and interest. How he did not already know the answer to that, neither had any idea how he would not unless he stayed that far out of their society - which was not something that boded well if they did choose to allow him to court them.

"Why do we like 'em or why aren't many bondin' 'em?" Frenzy asked cheekily, wide grin crossing his lips in amusement at his brother's predicament.

"Meaning: latter."

"Eh, we think it's gotta do with how a lotta mecha outside tha culture respond ta 'em. Is 'parentleh harder ta find a good job with animal frames than with mini-mecha. Ain't got no idea why since we're a bit more limited in what we can do in some aspects," the red and black one answered with a shrug, naming one of the shortcomings of their shared frame type seemingly without a care. If the carrier was as young as he thought the mech was, then he might not know that there were major differentiations between frames and they would be spared disappointments later if they _did_ bond.

"Job finding: not difficult," he stated in consternation.

"For you, Soundwave," the red and silver bird commented with a short snort that spoke volumes about what she thought of the carrier's assessment of his own worth, though the mini-mechs were not aware of that meaning at the time. To them, the noise was just disrespectful. "With your processors, there is absolutely no reason for them to refuse you a position unless you were to paint yourself purple and bid everyone call you Solus."

He turned a perplexed gaze on his bonded condor and stated, "Frame: mech. Solus: femme."

A laughing trill followed the declaration along with a short rumble from the black and silver feline, her version of a chuckle, at the expense of their host. "Some of the femmes from earlier sure thought that you were!"

Embarrassment flooded the mech's electromagnetic field as he ducked his face plates down to hide his features from the two mini-mechs as if he did not want them to become aware of that little fact. Apparently it told a good bit more about him than they had been thinking, though they were not about to reveal that fact in their fields, expressions, or words. Any mech could find one way of interfacing better than another and many had chosen in recent vorns to forgo the upgrades to the more organic spike and valve systems as purists had gained a foothold in the education system and were changing what was taught there. This Soundwave surely had those systems though to know what position he liked in the berth, which was a plus in their opinions as they had those themselves and would not want to explain why to a carrier-host they bonded with.

"Ravage: desist," he scolded, though not harshly. It was a plus that he had not hesitated to do so as it meant he had a back strut somewhere in that pretty frame.

_/All mecha should magnetize to their seats and store anything that is liable to move or shift in either subspace or the specialized compartments below their seats. The vac-lev will be leaving in a klik./_

The brothers grinned at the carrier-host and his symbionts before turning around and following the instructions as they did not want to go flying through the air like they had the first time they had ridden on a vac-lev. It had been a thrilling experience, but not something either of them had wanted to repeat as they had slammed into a mech that had had military upgrades. While that would not happen this time, they also did not want to drive a carrier-host away that they found themselves interested in because of some rather stupid actions.

_What do you think of the mini-mechs, Soundwave?_, Ravage asked over their bond as they disembarked from the vac-lev after they had exchanged contact information with the brothers. _Are you going to contact them after we get settled in like you told them?_

Soundwave took a long moment to contemplate his answer before giving it, running the data that he had collected over the several joors spent in their presence through his processors over again. _Laserbeak, Ravage: opinions?_

The condor whistled in a low register beside his audial in mirth as she responded, _They were nice enough, I suppose, but I think that I would like to get to know them a bit better. It will be even better if we can sneak up on them and see how they interact outside of a more controlled environment as we will get a better read on them that way. However, they are a little old to be offered for a bond or for them and too young for them to be chosen in a ceremony - shut up, Ravage, you were an outlier - so they may be rather desperate for a bond to get them out of their creation__clade._

A silver digit stroked the side of her beak affectionately as he contemplated her answer before prompting Ravage with a pulse across their bond.

_I think that they will make a good addition to the cohort if they have a bit more support and discipline added to their activations as I do not think their__clade__is doing enough by them. Mini-mechs are not normally put into an arranged bond and, since most are either twins or very close brothers as these two are, they are rarely chosen either as newer mecha rarely want to take on the 'burden' of two symbionts at once. Since they do not have any particular focus that they enjoy studying, that just makes it more difficult for them to find a suitable carrier. However, I think that you could do well with them._

_Consideration: needed. Query: meeting should be arranged?_

He received two affirmative pulses from the femmes before he turned his attention more fully on navigating the city of Stanix as downloaded maps only went so far into showing where one should travel. Their walk was quite short as the city happened to be rather small in comparison to many others they had traveled in, especially compared to Iacon and Polyhex where they had spent most of their time. However, instead of the sprawling mass that made up those two city-states, the Communication Capitol of Cyberton was built up with _height_, most of the buildings coming in at almost one hundred levels and several reaching almost double that. The reason was that the higher comm arrays were situated, the less likely they were to be damaged or encounter interference, especially as these were manufactured out of a particular metal that was coated in acid-resistant sealant, though the metal itself would take vorns to decay even with the amount of acid rain that fell on the city.

_Laserbeak, Ravage: ready to begin a new life?_


End file.
